Aunt Marlene let out a sharp breath. “Addison, what did you do?”
My mother bit her lip.
“I told her the truth would break Callum,” my mom said, voice thin. “I told her if she loved him, she’d build the life anyway. That Evie could be his second chance.”
“That was wrong,” Aunt Marlene said, flat and clear. “That wasn’t protection. That was control.”
“I told her the truth would break Callum.”
“You had no right,” I said, my voice cracking.
“I was trying to protect what little you had left,” my mother whispered.
“You didn’t protect anything.”
My voice dropped, rougher than I meant it to.
“You had no right.”
“And look, I can understand how Jess could’ve been feeling some type of way. Guilt. Fear. Being overwhelmed. I get that.”
I looked down at Evie, small, warm, trusting against my chest, and my throat tightened.
“But she left her baby behind,” I said, each word steady. “Whatever she felt, it doesn’t excuse that.”
My mother’s eyes filled. “She said she wouldn’t take Evie. She promised me. She said that Evie looked at you like you hung the stars in the sky. She could never take that away from you.”
“But she left her baby behind…”
“And you let a promise replace the truth.”
Aunt Marlene stepped toward the door and picked up her purse. Then she paused, eyes still on my mother.
“I’m so disappointed in you, Addison. Shame on you.”
My mother sighed deeply as her sister walked out the front door.
Aunt Marlene stepped toward the door and picked up her purse.
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